We start off with the Sega Video Magazine dated “1995.06”. This is seemingly the first time we ever got to see Clockwork Knight 2 in motion, and although it’s short, it’s a VERY nice look at things to come…

There are a few interesting differences when we compare the footage shown here to the retail version of the game. For starters, the “Kids’ Room” boss area lacks the lighting effect that can be seen in the retail version, along with the sundial that is always hanging in the background. As we will discuss later in the page, this is not the only instance of this difference.

In addition to this, during the Barobaro ride section of the “Kids’ Room” in the above footage, we can see that the toppling Clown toys are not only further in the background, but there is also no floor beneath them, making them appear to float in the air!

While this footage can’t be 100% dated, we do know it was shown at Tokyo Toy Show ‘95 at SEGA’s large Saturn Booth, as the very same footage can be seen playing on a large screen in the background of a dedicated feature for the event during Sega Video Magazine 1995.07, albeit very breifly.

I feel like this could be a very interesting build of the game if ever found, and I really hope we get to try it someday!

The following footage contains a few short clips from a somewhat late seeming prototype of the game. Although the clips are relatively short, they give us a nice look into a still developing version of the game.

Starting at 2:36, we’re in Kids’ Room Stage 1. We hear a jingle play when the egg is broken, revealing an item inside. The jingle is cut off by the item being collected.

We can also notice a row of 5 Pierron (which matches the retail version of the game), and one hiding in the background. This somewhat matches the fact that a Pierron is hiding in the background in the background of the “Prime Selection” prototype, except that prototype only has a row of 3 Pierron… even then, I believe this prototype pre-dates the “Prime Selection” prototype, and I’ll discuss why at the end of this section.

2:50 takes us to a later point in the game to the floating platforms by the climbing frame. Once again, we hear a jingle play when the egg is broken, but this time it’s not cut off prematurely.

It can be noted that in the background of the level, the Cuckoo Clock has been replace with a Duck with hanging cogs and what appears to be a giant egg at the very bottom, much like in the background of the “Prime Selection” prototype… weird stuff!

Because this part can’t just be shown by images, I felt clipping the few seconds I wanted to show was the easiest thing to do… So, as the below short clip demonstrates, in this build of the game the music did not fade out once you got to the goal sign, along with no drum roll sound. The screen does get darker with spotlights, much like the retail version of the game, and the level complete music also plays.

Moving on to footage of Kids’ Room Stage 2 at 3:16, there isn’t much to say, other than the graphical glitch on the black hair in Barobaro’s head when turning a corner is present in this build, much like the “Prime Selection” build of the game. Sadly, it’s a little hard to see because of the video quality, but you should be able to make it out well enough! The Katchin’ are also a darker silver colour, much like in that build.

Finally, moving on to 3:45, we are at the Kids’ Room boss, and as we can see much like the “Tokyo Toy Show ‘95 Era Prototype”, the area lacks the lighting effect that can be seen in the retail version, along with the sundial that is always hanging in the background. Apart from that, it seems to be pretty much business as usual… this would not be the last time we saw this unfinished boss area either!

Calling back to earlier in this section, I mentioned that I believe that despite the row of 5 Pierrons, that I believe this build pre-dated the one found on the “Prime Selection disc”. Finally, I can give my reason for that… Based on the jingle that plays when you crack open an egg (which is not present in the Prime Selection prototype), and the unfinished end of level sequence (which is 100% finished in the Prime Selection prototype), I personally believe this to be an earlier prototype. Maybe someday we’ll get that prototype and be able to check for ourselves~

Now we’re onto the release month of Clockwork Knight 2 in Japan, and as such, we actually get 2 features for the game (one on TV, and the other from Sega Video Magazine)!

First off, let’s look at the title screen! These are the first pieces of pre-release footage to actually show it off, and as we can see, it’s very close to the one seen in the Prime Selection prototype, with the Copyright text/outline matching exactly stating “© SEGA ENTERPRISES.LTD.1995”, as opposed to the final which has a different Copyright text stating “© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. 1994, 1995”. In addition, the outline is replaced with a drop shadow.

Strangely, a carrot can be seen at the bottom of the title screen. Of course, after pressing on the title screen large carrots rise up from the bottom of the screen and are displayed as menu options which Barobaro bites when one is selected, but they are never usually shown before this. It is likely that this was just a glitch/oversight that they fixed before the Prime Selection prototype.

Moving onto footage of the game itslf, we can see that much like in the “Prime Selection” prototype, the “Katchin’” enemies are holding Green pencils instead of Red pencils.

A little bit to the right, we can also see that once again, much like in the “Prime Selection” prototype, there is an extra flag in the foreground that is not present in the retail version.

We can also see that much like in the “Prime Selection” prototype, there is a “Tick” enemy on third yellow bar of the second climbing frame.

Finally, we are once again looking at the Kids’ Room boss, and as we can see much like the “Tokyo Toy Show ‘95 Era Prototype” AND the “Saturn Super Magazine #1 Prototype”, the area lacks the lighting effect that can be seen in the retail version, along with the sundial that is always hanging in the background. Apart from that, it seems to be pretty much business as usual.

As a little note here, it’s clear that while the footage from “Sega Video Magazine 1995.07” is longer, both it and the “Game King - Vacation Special (1995)” share identical source footage as one another for their Clockwork Knight 2 features, and so below I’ve made a quick video comparing the identical clips to one another.

And that is pretty much everything. Perhaps, given the date of the footage, it was even the version that was playable at Tokyo Toy Show ‘95. Now, given that, as mentioned at the top of this section, it was the release month for the game in Japan, we would get just one more preview in the next “Sega Video Magazine”…

This is the final feature from Sega Video Magazine for Clockwork Knight 2, and is dated 1995.08, meaning that the game had already been out for several days, if not weeks at this point. It is likely due to certain factors pointed out below that it is the same build shown in the footage for “Sega Video Magazine 1995.07” and “Game King - Vacation Special (1995)”.

So, of course, much like the footage shown in “Sega Video Magazine 1995.07” and “Game King - Vacation Special (1995)”, the title screen is very close to the one seen in the Prime Selection prototype, with the Copyright text/outline matching exactly stating “© SEGA ENTERPRISES.LTD.1995”, as opposed to the final which has a different Copyright text stating “© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. 1994, 1995”. In addition, the outline is replaced with a drop shadow.

In addition, much like the previously mentioned video footage, a carrot can be seen at the bottom of the title screen. Of course, after pressing on the title screen large carrots rise up from the bottom of the screen and are displayed as menu options which Barobaro bites when one is selected, but they are never usually shown before this. It is likely that this was just a glitch/oversight that they fixed before the Prime Selection prototype.

Apart from this, every other piece of footage in this video seemingly matches it’s final counterpart, perhaps suggesting that the “Kids’ Room” was the last room to be finished. Maybe someday we’ll have this prototype and can find out~

This one is kind of interesting, and a bit boring at the same time. Obviously, it doesn’t look very different to the final version of Clockwork Knight 2 at all, but there are a few key things to note. Not only does the start of the video state that the version shown is 95% complete, but it it is from the street dated November 1995 issue (Issue #1) of Sega Saturn Magazine in the UK, with it’s actual release daye being 1995.10.26. So, what makes this footage kind of special?

Well, given this timeframe, the footage was most likely recorded a month or two beforehand (gvien the nature of VHS editing, production, etc), and then adding in the whole “95% Complete” message, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that this footage may well have come from the “CK2 8.30 US Localization Prototype”[2], or a build very close to this. While this can’t be 100% proven, the timeline adds up in my opinion. To add, while the footage states it’s planned release was November ‘95, the game actually ended up releasing a day after this magazine and VHS tape in the UK.

During Hidden Palace’s “Project Deluge”, we of course know that a late “Clockwork Knight US Localization Prototype” was dumped and released. What wasn’t really talked about (and for good reason, which we will get into) was the following:

What is this? Well, it’s of course a localization prototype for the US Version of Clockwork Knight 2… well, actually, kinda… not really. While this has been burned to a dev disc, the contents on the disc match 1:1 to the US retail release version of Clockwork Knight 2, hence the “100%” label on the disc. This would have simply sent to reviewers at the time to show off the finished US version of the game. That said, as an absolutely Clockwork Knight fanatic, I’d still love to own this disc!

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